Tube-cleaner.



1. Do'RsBY. TUBI: CLEANER. PPLIUTIOI FILED IAIVM, 1910.

Patented oct. 25,-191a fill muuu: rzrrkspu., wAynNaNN. a c,

' UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

PARKER DORSEY, OF HUTCHINSON, KANSAS, 'ASSIGNOR TO THE STANDARD SUPPLY AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF HUTCHINSON, KANSAS, A CORPORATION OF KANSAS.

TUBE-CLEANER.

974,041, Specieation of Letters Patent. Patented Oct, 25, 1 910, Application led January 24, 1910. Serial No. 539,770.

To all whom it may concern: cleaner constructed according to my inven- Be it known that I, FARMER DoRsEY, a tion. Fig. II is a central longitudinal sec- 55 citizen of the United States, residing at tion of same. Fig. III is an end view of a Hutchinson, in the county of Reno and State cleaner with two of the blades removed.

5 of Kansas, have invented certain new and Fig. IV is a detail view of one of the keeper useful Improvements in Tube-Cleaners; and collars, the carrying shaft being in cross sec- I do declare the following to be a full, clear, tion. n 60 and exact description of the invention, such Referring more in detail to the parts 1 as will enable others skilled in the art to designates the shaft of the cleaner, which which it appertains to make and use the is preferably tubular and threaded at one same, reference being had to the accompanyend for connection with a coupling 2 or with ing drawings, and to the letters and figures the end of an ordinary operating rod (not 65 of reference marked thereon, which form a shown). part of this specification. Mounted loosely and sliuably upon the My invention relates to tube cleaners, and shaft 1, are two heads 3, which are preferhas for its principal object to provide a deably bell shaped and are spaced a suitable vice of that class whereby scale may be cut distance apart. Secured to the outer faces 70 from the inner surface of a boiler or other of and connecting the heads 3 are the blades tube and which is sufficiently fiexible to ob- 4-5, which are preferabl made from spring viate its breaking or jamming in the tube steel, and secured to the eads 3 by rivets 6.

should a solid obstruction be encountered. Each of the blades 4 5 is shaped sub- A further object of my invention is to stantially as shown in Fig. II, from which 75 provide a mounting for the cutter heads it will be observed that the blade comprises that will enable the knife body to flex lon ithe substantially straight end portions 4,

tudinally in either direction, so that t e and the intermediate portion 4 which forms blades may be contracted to pass an obstrucabrupt angles with the end portions 4, the tion irrespective of the direction in whic entire blade being bowed so that the angling the cleaner is traveling. portions 5 are at the center and have the A further object is to provide a tube greatest diameter, when assembled on the 30 cleaner of the kind described in which each heads, such diameter necessarily diminishknife may flex independently of the others, ing from the middle of the sections 5 to the thereby making it possible for the cleaner ends, where they join the straight porg5 to pass a protuberance in the pipe without tions 4. affectin the cleaning operation except at the The edges of the portions 5 are beveled point o the protuberance. outwardly at each side, to provide the cut- A further and an important object of the ting edges 5', but the straight portions need invention is to provide means whereby the not be beveled for the reason that they inknife body may be pulled in the tube when frequently come in contact with the scale, traveling in either direction, thereby obviatowing to the bow shape of the blade.

4'0 ing the tendency of the knives to buckle In order to retain the heads 3 on the shaft, when pushed against a protuberance or hard I provide means which may be fixed to the mass of scale. In the preferred form of my shaft and project therefrom so as to engage invention the pulling means may also serve the heads when the shaft is moved in either as a hammer to assist the knife body through direction, such means preferably compris- 45 a tight part of the tube. ing the spring cotters 7 which project Further objects of the invention will bethrough apertures in the shaft adjacent to come apparent from reading the following said heads. As there is a tendency of the description and claims, the preferred form cotters to bend, especially in the small sizes, of the invention being illustrated in the acwhen force is applied, I prefer to provide 50 companying drawin s which bear reference the thrust collars 8, which lit over the shaft numerals correspon ing to the numerals in and have apertures 9 through which the cotthe description, and in whichzters may project to removably fix same to Figure I is a side elevation of a tube the shaft. These collars are so positioned that the distance .between their outer ends is less than the distance between the inner ends 3 of the heads 3, so that the shaft l may have a limited end play without im-v parting motion to either head 3.

In operating the cleaner the parts are inserted in the tube and the rod operated in the usual ways, no skill being required. Vhen the shaft l is moved forwardly, the forward collar 8 will strike the adjacent head 3, thereby driving the blades 4-5 forwardly, so that the forward knife edge 5 will cut the scale.

Now let it be supposed that the blades, or any of them, encounter a heavy obstruction, as frequently occurs. As the blades are outwardly bowed, the obstruction will bend the blade or blades inwardly which will obviously result in elongation of the blade or blades and relative-movement of the rear? ward head 3 away from the forward head. .Supposing `that the obstruction be encountered ,during a rearward stroke of the cleaner: then the forward head 3 will move relatively upon the shaft. Itis thus evident that the blades can not become caught or jammed in any tube.

Should an unusually tight section of pipe be encountered, the end play of the shaft in the knife body will enable the operator to hammer the thrust collar against the knife head 3 to help the device through or along the tube.

The action of the blades in removing the scale will be fully understood without de-4 scription thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what lI claim as new therein and desire to secure `being of spring metal and bowed toward its center, the central portions of said blades being extended diagonally to the end portions and provided with cutting edges.

3.*In a. tube cleaner, a shaft, a. pair of heads movable on the shaft, separate resilip ent blades each having its ends fixed on opposite heads in offset relation to each other and having a diagonally extending section connecting the end parts, the blades being bowed and the edges of the diagonally eX- tending sections being sharpened, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FARMER DORSEY. llfitnesses:

MYRTLE M. JACKSON, K. M. IMBODEN.

.till 

